Paper dispensing machine



A. F. TINGLE April 4, 1939.

PAPER DISPENSING MACHINE Filed March 21, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l Arragwsr April 4, 1939. TINGLE 2,152,778

PAPER DISPENS ING MACHINE v Filed March 21, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WWM ATTOENLV Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT orricr.

PAPER DISPENSING MACHINE Alexander F. Tingle, Denver, 0010.

Application March 21,

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in paper dispensing machines and has reference more particularly to a machine for use by stenographers and typists for automatically dispensing paper, properly interleaved with sheets of carbon paper. I I

It is well understood by typiststhat a large amount of time is consumed in assemblying the paper preparatory for use in a typewriter. v

It is always necessary to make one carbon copy and this requires the assemblying of the. ribbon copy, a sheet of carbon paper and a second sheet. It is quite frequently necessary to make from two to four and sometimes more carbon copies and in such cases a comparatively large amount of time is consumed in assemblying the paper and the carbon paper.

It is the object of this invention to produce a machine that will dispensepaper interleaved with carbon paper so as to provide for any number of copies, up to the capacity for which the machine is built, and to dispense the paper in any desired length so that the operator can set the machine for the desired number of copies and lengthof paper and by merely closing a switch the ma chine will function.

The invention can most clearly described and will be most readily understoodwhen reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment of the machine has been illustrated and in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section, taken along line Fig. 2, parts being broken away to better disclose the construction;

Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevation looking in the direction of arrow 3 in Fig. 2;

Figure 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 Fig. 3 and illustrates in a diagrammatic way an electric switch;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation looking in the direction of arrows 55 Fig. 2; and

Figure 6 is a diagram showing the relationship of the several rolls carrying paper and carbon. 45 The drawings show a simplified form of' the invention which is intended to show the essential elements but which does not illustrate the construction as it appears in an actual machine.

In the drawings reference numeral If! designates the base or bottom of aframe or housing and Ii and i2 represent the sides of the housing. Extending upwardly from the base are frame members 14 and I5, which have been shown as of considerable thickness and are provided with openings that form bearings for shafts. In Fig. 2 the distance between the frame members l4 and I5 has been designated as a which in actual practice is usually slightly more than 8 inches. In Figs. 1 and 2 the parts have been shown as sub 1938, Serial N0. 197,186

stantially full size but the dimensions may, of course, be varied.

Mounted for rotation between the frame members l4 and I5 are a plurality of pairs of rollers. The rollers in the upper pair have been designated by letters A and B; those of the next lower pair by characters Al and Bi and the lowermost pair by A3 and B3. Each roller has a shaft 16, the ends of which are journaled in bearings in frame members I4 and 15. These shafts extend through frame member l5 and are each-provided with gears I! that interconnect the two rollers of each pair so as to assure that both will rotate at the same speed. Rollers A are the drive rollers of each pair. Attached to one end of shaft it of roller A is a spur gear 18; this particular gear is secured to the shaft in such a way that it will not rotate thereon. An identical gear is connected with the corresponding end of the shaft l6 of each drive roller but the others are free to rotate on the shafts. An idler is ispositioned between adjacent pairs of gears i3. drive shaft 20 is mounted for rotation in hearings in frame members I4 and i5 and carries a gear 2| that meshes with gear $8 of the. lowermost pair of rollers. Shaft 22 carries a worm gear 22 that cooperates with a worm 23, driven'by motor 24.

It is apparent that whenever shaft 20 is rotated the whole gear train, comprising gears l8, l 9 and 2| rotate but, since only the uppermost gear I8 is non-rotatably secured to its shaft, the rollers A and B are the only ones that are rotated. In order to effect a rotation of the pairs of rollers below the upper pair, it is necessary to effect a connection between the gear l8 and'the roller that is carried by the corresponding shaft It and this is accomplished in the following manner: Each gear l8 has a hub 25 that is provided on its outer end with clutch teeth 26. The outer ends of shafts I6 have been shown as provided with a square section 2? on which is slidably mounted a clutch member 28 having its inner end provided with teeth 29 that are designed to cooperate with the teeth 25 on the hubs-to effect an interlock. When the teeth 26 and 29 are in engagement the rotation of gear i8 will produce a corresponding rotation of the shaft on which it is mounted. It will be observed that clutch. members 28 are each provided with a groove tit that is engaged by the forked end of a lever 31 which is mounted on a pivot 32. A spring 33 serves to normally keep the clutch open.

In order to control the opening and the closing of the clutches, a cam 34 has been mounted for rotation by a shaft 35 whose outer end is provided with a knob 36 having a pointer 3?. Cam 34 has a high surface 38 and a low surface 39 connected by an inclined surface at. When the ends of levers 3| rest on the low surface the springs 33 function to keep the clutches open.

When the cam is rotated clockwise, Figs. 1 and 5,

the upper lever will first move up the incline and onto the high surface 38; this will close the upper clutch and the two pairs of rollers A, B and AI, Bl, will now turn so as, to feed the ribbon copy together with two second sheets and two carbons. A further rotation of cam 34 will close the next lower clutch while a still further turning of the cam will close the lowermost clutch. It will be seen from the above that by setting pointer 31 to the number of carbon copies wanted the machine will feed the desired number in assembled form.

Referringjnow more particularly to Figs. 1 and 6, attention is called to the circles F, CI, SI, C2, S2, C3, S3, C4 and S4, which indicate'respectively rolls of first or ribbon copy paper, carbon paper, first second sheet,,etc. Rolls A and B feed the first sheet, the first carbon sheet and the first of the second sheets and. each of the other pair of rollers feed a sheet of carbon paper and a. second sheet and when all clutches are closed. paper is assembled for an original and four carbon copies. Supports comprising metal sheets 4| are provided for each assembly. Passages 42 extend from the delivery sides of the rollers to the discharge openings 43 to guide the sheets of paper and prevent them from crumpling. A knife 44 is provided for cutting the paper after the desired lengths have been projected. A shelf 44 maybe provided to support the paper projected by the machine.

It is now necessary to provide a convenient means for starting and stopping'the motor so as to determine the length of paper projected. In Fig. 1 a source of electric current supply has been indicated at 45 from which conductors 46 and 41 extend to the motor. Conductor 41 has been shown as broken and its ends connected with two paced switch terminals 48 that can be connected by a movable switch contact 49.

It is evident that when the switch terminals 48 are connected, the motor will start and when they are disconnected the motor will stop.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, it will 'be seen that shaft 20 is provided with a pinion 50 that meshes with a much larger spur gear 5|. Gear 5| has an elongated hub 52 which is rotatable on a stub shaft 53 that is welded orotherwise attached to plate 54. A friction clutch disk 55,.having a tubular hub 56 is mounted for rotation on hub 52, and is secured in place by a removable washer 51 attached to hub 52 by a screw 58. It will be observed that the clutch disk contacts with the outer surface of gear 5| only along the surface of the annular flange 59. The parts are so proportioned that when the Washer 51 is in place the surface of flange 59 isforced against the gear 5! with considerable pressure so asto produce the necessary frictional resistance. A handle 60 has one end providedwith a ring 6| that encloses hub 56 and is held against rotation by means of a set screw 62. A knob 63 on the end of the handle facilitates operation of moving the handle.

It is evident that shaft 28 cannot be rotated by means of a torque applied through pinion 50 and it is therefore apparent that the position of handle 60 can be rotarially adjusted on gear 5|. The several gears are so proportioned that gear wheel 5| rotates less than 360 while the machine feeds a sheet of paper of legal length. In the drawings it has been assumed that gear 5| rotates about for a legal length sheet.

pin is placed in hole marked 11".

, spending elements designed in accordance Since a typist may use sheets of different length, such as 5 inches, 11 inches or 13 inches, means is provided for determining the length of the paper dispensed. In Figs. 3 and 4, a simple electric switch has been shown in which two spaced switch contacts 48 project through openings in plugs 64 of insulating material. A metal plate 49 is embedded in the underside of a disk 65 of insulating material that is mounted for rotation about hub 56. Disk 65 has a short arcuate slot 66 through which a stationary pin or screw 61 extends. A washer 68 encloses the pin and rests against the outer surface of disk 68 and. is forced against the latter by means of a spring 69; Pin 61 serves as a stop which limits the rotation of disk 65 and washer 68. serves to produce sufficient friction to prevent the disk from rotating accidentally. A pin 10 projects from the disk at any suitable distance from the contact plate 49. Since gear 5| rotates less than 360 degrees for a legal length sheet of paper the extent of angular rotation for each inch of paper can easily be determined, and holes 1| provided at points corresponding to the rotation for given lengths of paper.

In Fig; 1, if a pin is placed in hole marked 5 the angular movement of handle 68, between pin 18 and the one in hole 1| plus the angular extent of slot 66 corresponds to a sheet 5% inches in length and if the pin is put in hole marked 11" a sheet of paper 11 inches long will be fed from the machine. I

Let us now suppose that the work requires a single carbon copy and paper 11 inches in length; pointer 31 is adjusted as shown in Fig. 5 and a Handle 68 is now moved counterclockwise until it strikes the pin in hole 10 and the handle and the'dis'k are now moved as far as the pin Bl permits.

This brings contact plate over the switch contacts 48 and the motor starts running and oper ates the paper feed rollers. Disk 65 remains stationary but handle 60 rotates and when it engages stop 1|] disk 65 is rotated; As soon as plate 49 moves from switch contacts 48 the motor stops and the typist operates knife 44 and cuts the paper which can now be placed in the machine. If three carbon copies are required pointer 3'5 is moved to the point marked 3 and if 14 sheets are required the stop is put in hole marked 14".

The switching device shown is merely 'indicative of means and a snap of switch of some kind can be substituted so as to prevent arcing at the switch contacts.

In the drawings the drive shaft 2|] has, for the Such changes are believed to come within In the drawings a machine having all the necessary elements to perform the-desired function has been illustrated but itis to be understood that the construction is illustrative only and that the several elements can be replaced by correwith good engineering practice.

Having described the invention what is claimed is:

1. In a paper dispensing machine, in combination, a frame having spaced frame members, provided with pairs of bearings, a plurality of pairs of feed rollers having shafts journaled in bearings in the frame members, the rolls of each pair I being interconnected by gears to effect simultaneous rotation in opposite directions, one roller of each pair being connected with the corresponding roller of the adjacent pair of spur gears, the spur gear on the uppermost pair of rolls being nonrotatably attached to the roller shaft, the gears associated with the pairs of rollers below the uppermost being rotatable on the shafts, a clutch mechanism for eifecting a non-rotatable connection between each gear and its shaft, means for opening and closing the clutches in a predetermined order, means for supplying two sheets of typewriter paper, separated by a sheet of carbon paper, to the uppermost pair of feed rollers, means for supplying a sheet of carbon paper and a sheet of typewriter paper to each of the other pairs of feed rolls, means comprising an electric motor for rotating the feed rolls, and means for stopping the motor after the feed rolls have been rotated through a predetermined angular distance.

2. A paper dispensing mechanism, comprising in combination, two spaced frame members having oppositely positioned bearings, a plurality of pairs of feed rolls mounted in operative position in said bearings, supply rolls mounted between said frame members, there being one supply roll for first sheet paper, another for carbon paper and a third for carbon copy paper for the first carbon copy to be made, and a roll of carbon paper and carbon copy paper for each additional carbon copy, there being a pair of feed rolls for each carbon copy desired, the rolls of each pair of feed rolls being connected at one end by gears which assure simultaneous rotation in opposite directions, means for rotating one roller of the pair of feed rolls, which feed the first sheet, one roller of each pair of feed rolls being connected to one roll of the adjacent pair by gears, a clutch between the driven gear of each pair, except the first driven pair, and the roller to which it is attached, and means for successively opening and closing the clutches.

3. A mechanism in accordance with claim 2 in which the feed rolls are so arranged that the axes of the rolls of each pair lie in the same vertical plane, the upper roller of the next lower pair being substantially at the same height as the lower roller of the pair above whereby the vertical space occupied by the feed rolls will be reduced to a minimum.

4. A mechanism for assemblying and dispensing a first sheet and a plurality of carbon copy paper sheets, and for interleaving carbon paper, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, a plurality of supply rolls carried thereby, one for the first sheet paper and one roll of carbon paper and one roll of carbon copy paper for each carbon copy desired, means for dispensing any desired length of first sheet paper and any desired number of sheets of carbon paper and carbon copy paper, comprising a pair of feed rolls for each carbon copy desired, means for simultaneously rotating the several pair of feed rolls to dispense equal lengths of paper, and means for predetermining the length of paper dispensed at each operation.

5. A mechanism in accordance with claim 4 in which means is provided for varying the number of pairs of feed rolls operating simultaneously whereby any number of copies from one to the capacity of the machine can be automatically assembled.

6. In an automatic paper measuring and dispensing machine, in combination, means for supporting three rolls, one for first sheet paper, another for carbon paper and the third for carbon copy paper and two additional rolls, one for carbon paper and the other for carbon copy paper, two pairs of feed rolls, one pair being located above" the other, the rolls of each pair being interconnected for positive simultaneous rotation in opposite directions, the first sheet paper, and a carbon copy paper, separated by a sheet of carbon paper, passing between the rolls of the upper pair, and a sheet of carbon paper and a sheet of carbon copy paper passing between the rolls of the lower pair, the carbon paper being positioned between the two sheets of carbon copy paper, means for rotating the upper pair of feed rolls, independently of the lower pair, means comprising gears and a clutch for transmitting motion from the upper pair of feed rolls to the lower pair, means for operating the clutch, and means operated in synchronism with the upper pair of feed rolls for determining the length of paper dispensed.

7. In a mechanism for feeding a plurality of paper strips in superposed assembled relation, comprising a frame, a supply roll for each strip, carried by the frame, a pair of feed rolls rotatably supported on the frame, the rolls of each pair being interconnected for simultaneous rotation by means of spur gears, a motor, means for transmitting motion from the motor to one pair of rolls, one roller of each pair of rolls being connected by gears with one roller of the adjacent pair of rolls, a clutch mechanism in the drive mechanism between the several pair of rolls and means for opening and closing the clutches in a predetermined order to determine the number of pair of feed rolls operating at one time, and means operated by the motor for stopping the same when the pair of feed rolls driven directly from the motor has rotated through a predetermined angle.

8. A device in accordance with claim. '7 in which the means for operating the clutches comprises a movable member having a cam surface and a separate lever from each clutch to the cam member whereby when the cam member is moved the cam will move the levers in regular order, the movement of the cam member in one direction closing the clutches and movement in the other direction opening them in reverse order.

9. A machine for assemblying sheets of paper and carbon paper of predetermined lengths for the use of typists, from long strips, comprising a frame, means for supporting supply rolls of paper and carbon paper means for assemblying and feeding predetermined lengths of first sheet paper, carbon paper and carbon copy paper, a plurality of means comprising each a pair of feed rolls for supplying at the will of the operator additional sheets of carbon paper and carbon copy paper so that any desired number of carbon copies, within the capacity of the machine, can be assembled, means for controlling the number of sheets of carbon paper, and carbon copy paper to be added to the assembly having the first sheet paper, means comprising a power device for operating the machine, and means for controlling the length of paper dispensed.

ALEXANDER F. TINGLE, 

